Feminine Psychology: Hysteria

Feminine Psychology emphasizes the role of environmental and cultural factors in the development of neurosis. In her view, men and women were equal outside of the cultural limitations often placed on being female. Karen Horney, that biologically women and men were equal.

Male psychologists believed that women were inferior. The concept of hysteria emphasizes that males viewed women as weak, inferior, and susceptible to insanity. Hysteria is the concept of the “wandering uterus.” Male doctors believed that women who had paralysis in their arms or legs were the cause of the uterus disconnecting itself and moving around the body. Women were treated as inferior because they were susceptible to womb wandering.

However, that concept changed in a positive way for women psychologists like Karen Horney when “womb wandering” appeared in men who were in combat. To be less disgraceful, men who suffered from hysteria were said to be suffering from “shell shock.”

Horney also believed that Anatomy is not Destiny. Contrary to Sigmund Freud, the Oedipal Complex does not apply to most men and to no women. Penis envy, to her, was not really envying the penis in its literal sense, but envying men’s social status and role. She believes that there is something wrong with society and not women.
Misdiagnosis of women happens a lot in our society. Women today, even though we are supposedly equal, still get stereotyped. A woman is more likely to be diagnosed with depression than males. While this is a fact, there is another factor that is not taken into consideration. For women, it is okay to visit a therapist and seek help. Women talk and therapy is “the talking cure.” It is socially acceptable for women to express their emotions and feelings and seek support from others. For males on the other hand, they are supposed to not be emotional or expressive. They are manly, and don’t cry, and think emotions are women’s business. Males, even when depressed, do not seek help as often as females. Females have a greater chance of misdiagnosis because they express sadness, but not necessarily are always clinically depressed.

Karen Horney: Feminine Psychology

Karen Horney brought about Feminine Psychology. She disagreed with Freud’s view of women. She countered Freud's concept of penis envy with what she called Womb Envy, or man's envy of woman's ability to bear children. She argued that men compensate for this inability by striving for achievement and success in other realms.

Horney was also known for her study of neurotic personality. She defined neurosis as a maladaptive and counterproductive way of dealing with relationships. These people are unhappy and desperately seek out relationships in order to feel good abut themselves. Their way of securing these relationships include projections of their own insecurity and neediness which eventually drives others away.

Horney also developed three Neurotic Coping Strategies. Her first neurotic coping strategy is Moving Towards people. These people are compliantly neurotic. Some children who feel a great deal of anxiety and helplessness move toward people in order to seek help and acceptance. They are striving to feel worthy and can believe the only way to gain this is through the acceptance of others. These people have an intense need to be liked, involved, important, and appreciated. So much so, that they will often fall in love quickly or feel an artificial but very strong attachment to people they may not know well. Their attempts to make that person love them creates a clinginess and neediness that much more often than not results in the other person leaving the relationship. Their neurotic solution is “If everyone likes me, then no one will want to hurt me.” Or one could be Moving Against people. These people are power hungry and crave social recognition and prestige. Another way to deal with insecurities and anxiety is to try to force your power onto others in hopes of feeling good about yourself. Those with this personality style come across as bossy, demanding, selfish, and even cruel. Horney argued that these people project their own hostilities (which she called externalization) onto others and therefore use this as a justification to 'get them before they get me. Once again, relationships appear doomed from the beginning. Their neurotic solution is, “If I have power over everyone, than no one can hurt me.” And finally one could be Moving Away from people. This type of people likes independence and Isolation. The final possible consequence of a neurotic household is a personality style filled with asocial behavior and almost an indifference to others. If they don't get involved with others, they can't be hurt by them. While it protects them from emotional pain of relationships, it also keeps away all positive aspects of relationships. It leaves them feeling alone and empty. Their neurotic solution is, “If I don’t let anyone close to me than no one can hurt me."